The Musician's Wish 1
by Gaarachee
Summary: This is a tale of a Musician, a being who creates magic from using an instrument, and his many friends as they search for the Sheet Music, a song that can grant any wish.


[Chapter One]

A cat, as dark as night, yet as wise as the stars in the sky…

A girl who's voice moved water…

A young boy, burning in a fire, yet unscathed…

A strange beast, with the body of a man, but the head of a wolf, covered in the life of leaves…

I woke up with a start. For a moment, I breathed hard, wondering where I was. Then I realized it was just a dream. But it was such a strange dream… Normally, you would dream of the things you wish for in life, but this just felt like an oddity. It felt like it was information getting ready for battle. I let out a sigh before feeling the sharp pain of a head-ache.

I let out a snarl of anger as the pain got worse and worse the more I thought. Sure, it was just a head-ache, but it felt like a thousand people had just decided to start dancing inside of my skull. Sliding out of bed, careful not to hurt myself anymore than I had too, I started to get dressed.

You see, today was a very special day for the small village I lived in. It was a day of light-hearted laughs, a day of children playing, but most importantly, it was a day of music. Yes, today was the day of the Harvest Solstice. What a bummer of a time to get a head-ache, right?

I wanted to stay in bed and just skip out, but this year I was going to perform in the Music Contest. The Music Contest is nothing major, but if you win, you can gloat about it all year long. And I wasn't about to sit and listen to an old man scream about his 'music playing to be the best in this whole dang village' again. Everyone knew that _I_ was the best music-player in the whole village. And they didn't even know that I was a Musician either.

Yes, I know you're probably saying 'But a music-player is a Musician, idiot.' But that's not so in our world. In our world, a Musician is a bearer of magic. And they bring the magic to being by using their instrument. This is also called 'Harmonizing'.

'Wow! That's so cool! I want to be a Musician!' That should be what you're saying now. But believe me; you don't want to be one. Musicians might have been welcomed into cultures at first when we first started to show up, but after time, we were started to be feared. They thought we would one day destroy everyone in our own greed. And then the King decided that every last Musician be hunted down, and either executed or imprisoned, depending on the how dangerous they were.

That is why I've been hiding away my powers ever since the day I discovered them. If my powers were made public, I would never see tomorrow! And I plan to keep that from happening. It only happened once in my whole life that people knew of my gifts, and that will never happen again.

I glanced at myself in the mirror for a brief moment. What I saw was a young man, about 18-20, with golden brown hair and green eyes. A smile erupted from my face.

"Looking good, Cottazell!" I said, gleaming at myself in a joking manner.

Okay. I was only half-joking. I did actually look quite good today, other then the black rings around my eyes from the head-ache. I was wearing my best clothes, black cloth pants, a light white blouse, and a dark red vest. Together with that, my hair was neatly tied with a ribbon except for the bang, which hung freely on my face. I had long grown out of puberty, so my face was clear and clean.

I started out of the door, ignoring the light jabbing pain in my head, before I remembered something important. My instrument. I turned around sharply and trotted over to the wall, where a strange-looking object was leaned. It looked a bit like a guitar, but more oval shaped, and was smaller. The neck was made to be part of the instrument, so it continued to form into a finely crafted piece. This, I remember being told, is a hand-made mandolin.

The mandolin is an older instrument, descended from the lute family. I heard it was created for folk music, like the banjo, but it was made into a light hearty styled type. I got this instrument a long time ago, when I was just 11 years old. It was a gift from my Grandpapa for my birthday.

Now, all set and ready, I hurried out of the door. The festival was going to start any moment now, for the sun had been up for at least two hours. This would've given the mayor and the town council plenty of time to prepare. Now they just needed the players. That would be me and about 15 other people.

I slowed my pace to a walk, holding my precious instrument in hand, and watching everyone head out to the festival grounds. This was really just the town square, but we liked to call it the 'festival grounds' whenever the season struck. Now all of the elderly and young children were heading out towards the square. The younger generation, such as teenagers or young adults, was still sleeping as usual. The village wasn't well-known for early risers.

"Ah, ah! Cottazell! Are you ready to perform?" Suddenly, out of the blue, a young girl joined me. I stared at her for a moment, wondering where I knew her from, when I suddenly realized it was Emmett, the mayor's daughter. I smiled to her, knowing she could have me chased out of the village if I was _too_ rude.

"Yes, I do think so, Emmett."

"Oh? You remember me? I guess that little rumor about you not caring about anyone isn't true after all!" The comment made me a little angry, but I ignored it. My head throbbed a little with pain.

"I suppose it is." I replied in the nicest tone I could.

"I guess the rumor about you only loving that old banjo of yours isn't true after all." She smiled, cheekily, her two front teeth missing. She was only about 8 years old.

_It's a mandolin, you brat!_ The throbbing in my head continued, no matter how I ignored it.

"Nope, guess it isn't." I couldn't force myself to smile this time.

"Then I guess the rumor about you-"

"I suppose it isn't, you little brat!" Suddenly, my voice lashed out in anger. I'm not sure why. The throbbing in my head seemed to all blow out at once. The wind seemed to start up at that moment.

Emmett let out a yelp of surprise and stared, shocked, at me for a moment. Then she turned tail and fled. I could swear she was going to cry. But I didn't yell at her _that_ badly. I'm not sure what was wrong with her.

Letting out a sigh of relief that both the annoying girl was gone, and the head-ache had subsided; I stepped up onto the square. This was probably the nicest place in the whole village, for its floor was not dirt like everything else, but tile. _It must have taken them ages to make enough money for all this…_ I thought silently. We weren't very rich, so how did we get enough money to pay for this square in the first place? I remember I was too young to understand the ways of money when it was built. I suppose I'll never find out.

I lifted my head too look around the area for where we would play. It was pretty full of random things, such as a fruit stand and a water booth. But then I saw the small platform sticking out of the ground. People were crowded around it to hear the single man play his guitar, who had long gotten up on the stand.

_Oh shoot! They already started!_ I stopped walking like a turtle and made a dash for the stage. Had they skipped me? Or did they give me another place? I was wondering this just until I reached it when the mayor caught hold of me.

"Cottazell, you're just in time. You're next up." Relief flooded through me as the elderly man explained what I was supposed to do. He said I would simply get on stage and play the song I had prepared, bow, and then leave. They would give the judging results later. Simple enough.

Suddenly, the thunder of clapping started, and, through the crowd, I saw the music player take a smug bow and waved before leaving. The mayor shooed my up to the stage , and I ended up on it before I knew it. Many eyes bore into me as the mayor announced the next player.

"Next up is Cottazell Kendal. He will be playing… uh… He doesn't have the song listed here! Uh, anyhow, please enjoy the music."

It was true. I didn't know what I would play. I usually don't. I just come up with something on the spot. But last night before I went to sleep, I came up with a pretty tune. I remembered when I played it, the wind brushed gently against me as if it was enjoying the song too.

I started the song off my gently strumming the notes with my finger-tips, before moving to a slow, light-hearted beat. I don't usually add words to my songs, just allowing a content beat. At first, everyone seemed to be watching be with eyes in awe. This made me happy to know that people liked the songs I made.

My fingers stopped, in shock more than anything, when the throbbing in my head started up again. I thought of stopping the song short, but then I realized that they _wanted _me to continue. I started the song back up again, hoping that they wouldn't notice the random stopping point. The throbbing grew stronger and louder and more painful as it went on. A sweat bead fled down my temple.

The people's expressions changed from awe, to confusion, to a terrifying look. One woman screamed. I stopped playing and glanced at them, wondering what was the matter, when I looked above me.

My eyes grew wide when I saw what the commotion was about. A huge swirl of powerful wind was circling above me, full of the fall leaves. It swirled around for a moment, before realizing the music had stopped, and lashed at me angrily. I gave out a yelp of surprise as it slashed at my cheek, leaving a scratch behind. Then it disappeared.

I think I was in more shock than everyone else. Without me realizing it, I had Harmonized. Then the winds that I had attracted betrayed me and actually injured myself. I came to realize at that moment that I was not in control of my powers at all. No, it was more like they were in control of _me_.

* * *

I woke up lying on the cold, stone floor of the jail. My head was throbbing just as it had this morning, painfully, mercilessly. With a groan, I managed to lift myself off and lean against the wall. What had happened, again…?

Oh, yeah. At the contest, I Harmonized on accident, and everyone saw. Then… My head started to hurt after I tried to remember what happened after that. Had I fainted? Or had someone knocked me out cold? Well, that would explain the pain.

Suddenly, I heard a door open. Reluctantly I lifted my hurting head to see who it was. Sure, I was expecting maybe a Town Council member or maybe the jail-keeper, but no. It was something strange, something I never thought I would see in a jail.

It was a cat. A cat that's fur was as dark as the night. Wait… Why did that sound familiar? It sounded in tune, like something out of a poem. I didn't spare any more thought on it as I studied the cat more closely.

Its fur was pitch black, with only a wheat bunch of white on its chest. Its eyes gleamed with gold and mischief like an alley cat eying its prey. However, what caught my attention most was the red circlet of a collar with a silver bell hanging around it. _Must be the pet of a rich lady or something with a pretty thing like that…_

"Shoo, kitty! Go home." I growled, hoping it would leave me in at least some peace. Today was truly my worst, day, ever. But its eyes just seemed to glow with amusement and it settled down to watch me, flicking its paw as it groomed itself. I let out a sigh. "Would you please, please, _please_ let me die in peace?"

"Well, meow. What if I told you I could help you live, meow?"

A sudden voice struck me by surprise and my eyes darted around to spot the speaker. But no one was there. And then, my eyes once more landed on the cat. It seemed to laugh with amusement at my confusion.

"What, never seen a talking cat before, meow?"

Its mouth moved as the words came out fluently, smoothly. I jumped back in surprise, before my head collided with the wall. "Ugh…" I mumbled, holding the back of my head, hoping the head-ache wouldn't come back 10 times worse.

The cat just seemed to almost cry it found it so funny. After a few moments of _mrrows_ of laughter, it finally managed to choke out some words. "Hehe.. Oh, excuse me, meow. That was just _too_ comical, meow." I glared at it with both anger and confusion. I mean, a cat who could _talk_? You don't see that every day. It started to speak again.

"Now, meow. I ought to tell you what's going on, meow, shouldn't I?" Its eyes seemed to shift from light-hearted to serious in one go.

"Well, if you don't want to keep me in the dark here." I mumbled under my breath as I held my head. The throbbing slowed to a halt as I stopped moving around. I silently thanked the Heavens for the relief.

"Okay, meow. Well, meow, you're obviously a Musician, correct?"

"Yeah…" I didn't feel like snapping at it with such an obvious question. The pain might come back.

"Well, meow, why don't I tell you a little fairy tale?" Its mouth seemed to form into a feline smile. _A fairy tale..? What am I, five? _But I let it go on. It must've had some merit. "I guess." I grunted in reply.

"Ahem, meow." It cleared its voice as if it was going to say something very lengthy. I hoped it wouldn't be too long. The jailer would come at any time to take me away. _Is this cat really going to save my life?_

_Once upon a time, there lived a young music-player and his family. He was very poor, but very happy with his life. Every day he would kiss his wife goodbye as he went out to play on the streets, hoping that one day he would make some really good money. _

_But he never did._

_However, the music-player continued to feel happy and he would come home, usually empty-handed, and eat a poor dinner with his loving wife and children. And he was happy._

_Until…_

_One day, he came home to find his loving wife collapsed on the floor and his children crying. It turned out his wife was very ill, and he could not pay for the bills. And so the happy family collapsed into a very UN-happy family._

_Finally, after a long time, his wife died and they had a lonesome funeral. The young music-player cried and mourned for a long, long time, and when he finally stopped, he discovered his children had left a long, long time ago. He never saw them again._

_And so the very unhappy music-player strived to f ix his broken life. But he could not, for all that made it happy was gone. And so, he did the only thing he could do. He played, and played, and played, until he constructed a music sheet that was so beautiful and magical that it could grant any wish._

_And so, the music-player wished a wish that would affect the world as we know it. He wished…_

'I wish there was magic in this lonesome world.'

_And so the Musicians were created. Random people throughout the whole world were suddenly blessed with the gift to create magic. But some might have called it a curse later in the future…_

_Years later after the wish was made, the Musicians started to become despised and feared. Soon the King declared that all Musicians be brought to the palace and the mysterious sheet music be captured._

_But the young music-player did not want to give the music sheet to the Kingdom. Nor would he. Soon after this was declared, the young-musician hid his magic in a location no one knew. And so, it was lost. And the King gave up on the search for the lost sheet and concentrated on the Musicians._

_However, the Musicians started their own search for the music sheet. Some believed if they found it, they could rid themselves of the curse and live peaceful lives. However, most wanted the sheet for their own greed. And so, the hunt became traitorous, scary, alluring… _

_And the hunt is still going on today without no one knowing._

"And, meow, that's the story." It finished, huffing triumphantly. I was more surprised about the cat not saying 'meow' even once while he was telling the tale than that there was a hunt for some unknown music sheet.

"And…? What do I get out of listening to that 30 minute story?" I snorted. It was ridiculous, anyhow. A hunt going on for a probably non-existing music sheet? Yeah, right. The cat stared at me for a moment, studying me, wondering if I really had anything to do with this.

"Well, meow, to help me look for the music sheet! I am a Musician too, meow." I just stared at him like he was crazy. It was insane to even think that I, Cottazell, would accompany a _cat_, who thought he was a Musician, on a wild-goose chase to find a music sheet that existed only in a fairy's tale. Ridiculous!

"Uh, huh. Yeah, right."

Its eyes shifted into a sharp look, almost a glare, but not quite. I followed its gaze with a snort. Why should I even pretend to be polite to a mental thing like that? It flicked its paw after a quick lick, brushing it over its ear, and said:

"But you're a member, meow. You're a member of the Quartet. Meow, the first! You had the dream, too, meow, didn't you?" It told me this like I was an idiot for not remembering. A dream…? No wonder the cat looked familiar! I was the one in the dream I had last night.

"A cat as dark as night, yet as wise as the stars in the sky…" I murmured, mostly to myself. The cat let out a _mrrow_ of happiness at my remembrance. "So you _do_ remember, meow!" And it started saying my part of the poem.

"The wind is under control of one, and one only…"

…_.The wind…? Well, that would explain the tornado and the sudden breezes. _I suppose I trusted him a little more after that moment. I mean, he had a dream closely related to mine. But I still tested him a little.

"A girl who's voice moved water…" I started the second part of the poem.

"A boy, burning in fire, yet unscathed…" The cat continued. "Meow!" I almost rolled over laughing, but I stifled it with a giggle. He really did have to say meow after everything. He grinned at me, seeing that I was finally letting up.

"And a strange beast, with the body of a man, but the head of a wolf, covered in the life of leaves!" We said the last part in unison, before laughing like little school girls. This was the first time in my life that I felt like I actually had a friend, had some that was relatable.

After I finally managed to stop laughing, I took a deep breath and smiled at my new friend. _My_ friend. "So, little kitty, do you have a name?" I asked. His smile drifted a little as if thinking about it, before answering:

"Well, meow. Not really, meow."

"Guess I'll have to call you something if we're going to be around each other for so long." His smile returned twice as bright as he knew I would be accompanying him on this adventure. "How about…" I thought about it for a moment. I wasn't ever really good with names. "George?" The cat almost looked like he would die with a name like that. "Hm. Okay. How about Bluesy?" It was a no-go too.

I listed maybe 50 names before I finally found something that fit him. It was simple, unthinking, but it really, really did fit him. "Oh! How about Cat?" I was pretty sure he was going to reject it, but instead he thought about it. "Simple, not really a name… But I like it, meow!" He grinned. "And, meow, your name?"

"Oh," I really didn't think of telling it to him, since I was all the rave about having a friend. "I'm Cottazell. Nice to meet you, Cat. Now… How about getting out of this cell?" It was definitely the first thing we should do, I mean, if I was really going to go on this adventure with him.

"Oh, meow. Let me use my power. If you are truly meant to accompany me, meow, then there will be a way out!" I stared at him for a moment, wondering what he meant. If he used his power, I would be out like a snap, right? _Yet as wise as the stars in the sky…_ I wondered what that meant. Maybe his power wasn't physical like mine?

Suddenly, Cat shook his head which sent the bell on it jingling. It was… how I say… mystical. Beautiful. Unearthly. That was what it sounded like. It seemed to be unreal, as if it was just a sound in my head, but I knew it was real because as Cat shook his collar, it became more vibrant, more sound. It took me a moment to figure out what he was doing. He was Harmonizing. The bell was the instrument and he was the Musician.

His eyes were shut as he made the sounds with his bell. I just watched, in an almost sleeping state, listening to the sound. Finally the sound stopped and Cat's eyes blinked open.

"I saw it, meow." Was the only thing he said. I shook my head to get the sound out before asking:

"Saw what…?" I asked stupidly.

"Saw the future, meow, how you're going to get out." _Oh, so that's his power… To see the future. Well, guess I can call him an Astrologer. They see the future by watching the star patterns, right?_

"Meow, you see those bended bars? If you work on it, meow, you can widen them enough to slip out." He explained it like it was a simple task. Sure, I saw the bended bars. But they were just barely out of shape. I stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh. He saw the future, after all.

It took me hours to get the bars to bend, and, by the time I got them large enough to squeeze through, my hands were bleeding and Cat had cleaned himself at least 12 times thoroughly. "Squeeze through, meow!" _Shut up, meow! _I seemed to gain back my hostile personality after my palms had several cuts along them and my nails were filed down.

I managed to squeeze through, but only after I had torn my best clothes and cut my sides. I let out a sigh as I collapsed beside the door. "Finally..." I mumbled.

"Great job, meow! Now let's get your instrument and leave, meow." Cat purred, motioning to my mandolin which had been leaning against the wall just out of view. _Good idea, meow._ Oh please tell me I didn't just say meow. Oh God, it's way too catchy!

"How are we going to get out of here, though? People will be walking around, won't they?" I asked, picking up the mandolin. It had a few scratches, but nothing serious.

"Why, meow, aren't you silly! It's in the dead of night." He let out mrrow of laughter. _I've been out that long? Wow._ I opened the door to the upstairs carefully, peeking to see if anyone was around. But it seemed that the villagers thought that I would be helpless without my instrument in hand, because it was empty.

Cat slipped through the door first and went outside through a window that had been carefully left ajar. _So _that's_ how he got in. What a sneaky cat._ I, being the civilized person, went through the front door.

The village was really empty. No one even seemed to be awake, with maybe just one window lit up with a candle. I glanced around, hoping that my eyes would adjust so I could see better, looking for Cat.

"Cat?" I whispered as loudly as I could. I leaned over to a box to feel around for him.

"Boo." An inch away from my face, two golden eyes lit up and I almost had a heart attack. I let out a cry and almost ran, but then I realized who it was. "Cat! I'm going to kill you!" I growled, mostly in my own embarrassment. The now-visible-Cat just laughed a bit.

"Come on, you scaredy-cat." He glimmered at me with amusement.

"And there's the pot calling the kettle black." I shot back. Cat didn't seem to notice, because he twirled around and leapt down to the dirt path. He turned his head around to stare at me with those golden eyes and said:

"So, Cottazell, are you going to be my partner-in-crime? My amigo? My heroine?" The way he said it was in both a joking and serious way.

"Gah. Everything _but_ the heroine." I said, sighing. His eyes glimmered with amusement and laughter.

"Then you better cut that hair of yours, partner!" He teased as he trotted down the road. _And here we go… On a crazy journey with a mental cat going after a non-existing music sheet._ I smiled a bit. _But at least it'll be fun._

And so, the adventure began.


End file.
